Game Reviews

Football Manager Handheld 2010

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Football Manager Handheld 2010

When the devil was inventing the most evil addictions he certainly didn’t pull any punches.

Alcohol, nicotine and chocolate rank as some of the most fiendishly appealing substances known to man, but even these pale into insignificance for some people when set alongside a PC running a copy of Football Manager.

Concocted by the wizards at Sports Interactive, the series has been captivating players for years with its cunning combination of awe-inspiring realism and tactical depth.

It's been the football management title of choice on PC and now that title's been expanded to include iPhone.

As anyone previously bitten by the bug will attest, the combination of portability - there have already been four PSP versions - and addictive gameplay is likely to result in a downturn in productivity.

Early doors

Football Manager Handheld 2010 takes you into the touchline dug-out in any of 34 different clubs from 11 national leagues.

Each club comes with its own distinct set of expectations; for example, Chelsea’s fans will settle for nothing less than silverware and league titles, whereas the followers of lowly Kettering Town are likely to be content with a half-decent finish in the table.

The game boasts an incredible level of detail. Every aspect of the club’s day-to-day organisation can be intensely scrutinised and tinkered.

Don’t like the performances your lead striker is turning in? Apply some pressure. Feel the team’s board of directors isn’t giving you the raw materials you need to achieve greatness? Appeal for some cash to splash on the transfer market. Aware that your team’s tactics aren’t working against increasingly savvy opposition? Mix things up a little and try something new.

Sick as a parrot

In fact, much of your time with Football Manager Handheld 2010 is spent staring intently at screens of statistics, tables and text as you tweak and perfect your squad. Then there are the scouting reports, approaches from other clubs and an intense training schedule to handle as well.

When you actually get into a match proper the action switches to commentary screen which displays each event as it occurs. Should the ball gets near the danger zone, the view switches to a pitch perspective, with different coloured blobs comically dashing around after the ball.

Back of the net

There’s so much on offer here it’s almost impossible to conceive of anything Sports Interactive has left out, yet there are notable omissions which will irk long-time fans of the franchise.

There are no opportunities to pump fresh blood into the team via a youth academy. Also, during a match your tactical options are somewhat limited when compared to the PC original.

The rather counter-intuitive nature of the squad selection screen is something of a pain too, although once you’re aware of how to navigate it, the problem ceases to exist.

While Football Manager Handheld 2010 doesn’t feature everything that was present in the much-loved PC edition then, this is a remarkable achievement and effortlessly ranks as the finest simulation of football management available on the iPhone.

Football Manager Handheld 2010

A few corners have been cut to facilitate the transition but Football Manager Handheld 2010 is a tactical feast for football fans
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Damien  McFerran
Damien McFerran
Damien's mum hoped he would grow out of playing silly video games and gain respectable employment. Perhaps become a teacher or a scientist, that kind of thing. Needless to say she now weeps openly whenever anyone asks how her son's getting on these days.